Are you planning on starting your own streaming service, similar to the likes of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime? That’s great! But before you get started, you must know the importance of having specifications for your streaming service. In this article, we cover the basics of what to include in a technical specification for a streaming service.
Why Is A Technical Specification Needed For A Streaming Service?
It’s more of a way to justify and answer common questions for future changes and challenges along the way. A technical specification helps to manage people’s expectations while having certain guidelines for the team to keep track of.
Sample Content of A Technical Specification Guide
1. PIC (Person In Charge)
Without a doubt, there will always be someone who is in charge of the whole entire project. The person in charge is usually called the project manager and plays the role of making sure the entire process is executed smoothly. In short, he or she will be responsible for the entire project. It is important to list out who is in charge of it so anyone would be able to refer to them when things go wrong or to clear their doubts.
2. Description of Project
What is the streaming service about? The streaming service that you offer should be stated clearly in the specification in order to avoid any confusion. Other details that should be included are the values of the business and vision. Be sure to include the deadline for the completion of the project. Without a deadline, the project could go on and on without actually launching.
3. Overall Content Of Streaming Service
After you’ve established the values and what your platform offers, the next thing would be to list out what type of streaming service you’ll be offering. Will it be about lifestyle? Travel? Food? Be clear on what you’ll include in your streaming service and state them down. Describe the number of channels available on your streaming service as well. Will you be updating it with new content every month? List all of these details down to get a clearer picture.
4. Methods of Broadcasting
There are various ways to showcase your streaming service. Describe how you’ll broadcast your streaming service. Some of the popular ones include VOD (video on demand), live streaming, downloading and linear broadcasting. You could opt to choose a few of them, or simply just focus on one. Whatever it is, list them down on the specification so everyone gets an idea of how the streaming service will be broadcasted to the whole world.
5. Business Model
Once the important details of how the streaming service will be played out, then come the most important part of the entire project: how you’ll make money from it. What will be your business model? There are a few popular methods when it comes to streaming services such as AVOD (free video-on-demand) where the income comes from solely from advertising, TVOD (transactional video-on-demand) where users are required to purchase the items individually, and SVOD (subscription video-on-demand) where users have to pay a fixed fee within a certain period to access the streaming service. Will you offer users to pay for your streaming service or offer หนังออนไลน์ฟรี? Once you’ve decided on the method of income, state what are your KPIs such as monthly sales target, user accounts and so on.
6. Video Hosting
This is probably one of the crucial aspects of any streaming service. Users love to watch clear, HD videos. Hence, you have to find out the number of resolutions and bits your videos will offer. For example, most streaming services will offer around 3 resolutions which are 1080p (HD), 720p (HD) and 540p (SD).
7. Distribution Channels
Where will you be allowing your users to use your streaming service? For instance, allowing them to stream via their smartphones, tablets, TVs and so on.
8. Functionalities of Streaming Service
Last but not least, identify what kind of tools you would need for your streaming service. Do you only need a website, or would you need an app as well? Of course, depending on how many tools you would need, it comes with a cost too. Other than that, identify what kind of statistics you will evaluate as well, such as viewing statistics.
In conclusion, a technical specification that is well-written will do wonders for your streaming service business. If you don’t have an in-house technical writer, you can always outsource and hire someone else to do it for you.
